Bandits
by sanghee
Summary: Bandits are troubling Camelot, Uther sends Arthur to deal with them. However the bandits had magic on their side so Arthur and Merlin gets captured. Merlin is beaten and "feed off of" by the sorcerer helping the bandits. Arthur has to find a way to protect his friend and escape before Merlin dies (kind of an AU... explained in profile)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi~** **I think im a bit weird... starting a new story... but i had this really good idea so yeah... enjoy~**

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Bandits

Chapter 1:

In a room decorated with stone statues and royal red cloths, there was a man in his 50's rubbing his temples. Grey hair was prominent on his head. The man was Uther, King Uther Pendragon, and he was troubled by the constant complaints about the Scar Bandits taking the commoner's supplies. The king tried sending men to investigate, none was able to come back… alive at least – most of them were delivered on their horses with an arrow in their spinal cord. Only one solution was left. To send the most greatest knights in all of Camelot – his son, Arthur, and his men.

o.o.o.o.o

"MERLIN!" a shout of frustration and anger rang through the castle. The voice of course belonged to the crown prince. The person Arthur was calling was his manservant; the clumsy, disrespecting manservant.

"Yes sire?" The manservant answered calmly, his eyes were half open and his brows were raised like he was mocking his master.

"You incompetent fool!" The blond prince was on his back, he was fallen over because he tripped on his own footing.

"I didn't do anything, you just tripped on your own." The manservant muttered.

Arthur furrowed his brow and made a what-the face. Their bickering continued for half an hour. The reason why Merlin was not banished from Camelot was because he was not only the prince's manservant but also his best friend.

Merlin is a special individual, he was born with magic, and he is the most powerful warlock there was and ever will be.

Their history together is too long to explain so I will just continue with the story.

o.o.o.o.o

"Arthur, I expect you to capture these bandits," Uther looked at his son. "Do not make a fool of yourself and," He paused. "Be safe."

"I will father" The prince left the throne room and went to the armory to gather his men and equipment. On the way he saw the young Dragonlord. "Merlin, are you coming? Or are you too scared?"

The warlock smirked and chuckled, "if I didn't go you wouldn't last one day." While Merlin was dressing his king, a Sir Leon came through the door.

"So Leon, Merlin says I would last a day without him, funny isn't it? I think he hurt his head and switched it around." The blond chuckled.

_You wouldn't know,_ thought Merlin. Once Arthur was in his armor the three went out into the courtyard, 50 knights were waiting to start their quest. The prince gave them a quick motivational speech and they kicked off to protect Camelot.

o.o.o.o.o

The Knights set up camp in the middle of the forest waiting for their next order.

"Sire, we are about a village away from the Scar bandits' hinding place. They seem to live inside of a cave." Leon commented. The group was about to retire for the night, Merlin was exhausted, he was in charge of making enough food for 52 people, it was not 53 because he knew he didn't have time to eat. The servant grumbled, he was a powerful warlock saving Arthur's ass every single journey, yet he never got to have a meal.

The men laughed around a couple of burning fires, they were elated: warm fires, full bellies. However Arthur, Leon, and a couple of other high ranking Knights were planning an attack; Leon was in charge of the back, Sir Breadford was in charge of the east part of the cave, Sir Nightingale had the west, and Arthur was in charge of charging in from the opening of the cave.

They had an outline of the hiding place; however something was off, it seemed to be too convenient for a mountain hole.

"The bandits might just have been lucky." Commented Sir Breakford, his beard rustled in the wind. "They are known for having the luck of the gods."

"Or the luck of a sorcerer," Merlin popped out of nowhere. The prince became startled.

"Merlin," Arthur raised his brows. "Shut up." He then gave a playful punch.

However Sir Leon viewed the outline a bit more closely. "Arthur, Merlin might be right. Look at the patterns." Arthur leaned over to see too straight of a line on the outline, there was no way the path was natural.

"I guess Merlin can get lucky as well." Sir Nightingale chuckled.

o.o.o.o.o

Before Arthur and Merlin fell asleep, the prince spoke up. "Merlin, how did you know the bandits had a sorcerer on their side?"

Merlin froze, _because I sensed a powerful magic user,_ "I-I don't know, I guess I'm a good guesser" The warlock replied.

"You know, sometimes I think you keep a lot of things from me." Arthur mildly scrunched up his face.

"Well Arthur, don't hurt yourself thinking." The manservant smiled.

"Shut up."

Both of them fell silent; they knew this battle was not going to be easy, there was magic on the bandit's side. But what the prince did not know was that magic was on their side as well.

o.o.o.o.o

In the early fog dominating morning, the scar bandits sneaked quietly towards Camelot's men, they were waiting for the right moment to attack them.

Merlin was already awake preparing for the day, while the other knights were asleep – even the one on watch – the warlock heard footsteps. His blue eyes began to glow; he strengthened his eyesight and began to scan for anything. The warlock gasped, they were about to be ambushed.

"BANDITS!" Merlin shouted at the top of his lungs. "Arthur! Leon Bandits!" He began running towards the startled men. "Everyone wake up!" As the knights drew their swords the Scar bandits came running towards them.

It was horrible, the knights were unprepared and the bandits were almost overpowering them. The warlock did his best to not get caught or be seen using his magic. Every five seconds Merlin's eyes glowed, branches falling, vines tripping bandits. They groups were at it for a long period of time.

Merlin looked around for Arthur, he saw a poorly dressed male about to attack him, he quickly sent a spear through the stomach with his magic. Arthur turned around and saw the man on the floor , he then turned his head at the opposite side to see who threw the spear. Instead he saw his manservant… on the floor… like an idiot.

"Merlin-" Arthur's call stopped abruptly, he was knocked out by another person, Merlin rolled his eyes and made that person fly into a tree. The manservant rushed to Arthur's side and grabbed a hold of him. Then using all his strength he pulled Arthur through the battle and into a hiding place.

Mud covered both of the males, but the warlock did not stop. Merlin's breathing was uneven, and he felt a bruise beginning to form on his jaw line.

"Ugh, I told you…" the dragonlord mumbled, "you wouldn't last one day without me." He then collapsed to the ground.

o.o.o.o.o

When Arthur woke up, he saw Merlin next to him; dark circles were underneath his eyes. _Merlin? Where are we?_ The thought, the back of his head ached.

The blond looked around and saw that they were out in the open. Hearing a sound, Arthur reached for his sword, but it wasn't where it should be. It was at his throat. A raggedy man pointed the prince's sword at Arthur's neck. "Good morning sleeping beauty."

Arthur narrowed his eyes, _he is a bandit…_ then more bandits began to appear all around them. Merlin however did not nudge.

"I gave your friend a warning slash, but I didn't know the power of your sword. It seems like, royal swords are sharper than a bandits."

"No." Fear struck Arthur's heart, he reached for Merlin, blood was on the manservant's handkerchief and jacket. A wound was visible near Merlin's clavicle. Fear blinded the range in his mind.

Merlin breathed and Arthur sighed, then the warlock opened his eyes and said. "Don't start celebrating, I'm not dead." The dragonlord's voice was ragged and hoarse.

Arthur exhaled once more out of relief.

"Well little girly, it looks like you are the crown prince of Camelot," The bandit with Arthur's sword chuckled. "and I think we have good use for you."

o.o.o.o.o

Merlin cringed at the pain from his shoulder wound; he was oblivious to his surroundings. The prince and his manservant were thrown into a damp cell covered in dirty straw. Arthur furrowed his brows, worried about his friend.

The cell was a part of many more, moans and grumbles of other prisoners were audible. This sound sickened the prince. _Why would they need to keep so many prisoners?_

A jingle was heard at the start of the hall, a plump bandit with an disgusting yellow teeth walked down the prison hallway and stopped in front of Arthur's and Merlin's cell. Following came a tall male, in his late 20's, dressed in a green robe with a staff. The male caught Arthur's eyes, he was black haired, paler than the moon and had strong features. _This man isn't a bandit, he is the sorcerer._ Arthur clenched his teeth.

"This is the one?" the sorcerer pointed at Arthur.

"Yes, he is the crown prince of Camelot," replied the other man.

The dark haired man studied Arthur, and then he fixed his gaze upon the lying manservant.

"Such power." The sorcerer mumbled.

"Yeah well, he is think prince you know," the clueless bandit chuckled.

"No, that person over there… he is powerful. I want to feed off of him."

Arthur eyed Merlin, then the two men on the other side of the bars, "Merlin?" he questioned. "He is as powerful as a fly." The prince became anxious, he did know what _feed off of_ meant, but he knew it wasn't good.

"Grant, take a look closely, that scrawny little boy looks like he is going to die in less than a day." The bandit questioned. Grant glared at the other and scoffed.

"Just bring him to me." Then the sorcerer turned to exit the cell.

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**How was it?**

**yeah its a bit weird right? i hope at least one person liked it... sigh**

**anyway there is no romance in this fanfic and yeah if u are confused about when this is taken place look at my profile then there should be an explanation... unless i was too lazy to actually put anything on there...**

**The more reviews the faster the update :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I'm really really sorry that I have not been updating as much as I used to! My laptop got all weird and now I didn't have wifi... sob**  
**So since I couldnt take it anymore im going to type and upload from my phone... so please do not hate me for having a lot of errors. Im trying my best!. **  
**Another important point: im going to try to write short chapters but upload every other day or something... so yeah lets see how it goes. **  
o.o.o.o.o

Chapter 2

As the sophisticated sorcerer left the cave room, the man lacking teeth and clothes opened the door to Merlin's and Arthur's cell. Athur was about to strike the bandit, but for the first time he noticed the chain around his wrists, they bounded the prince to the wall of the dark grey stone wall. "Dammit" he cursed.

The enemy grabbed Merlin's arm and forced the warlock to sit up. It was difficult for the pale man to get up since he had no he had no strength left. "Lowly servant, can't even get up on his own."

Arthur snapped, he internally raged: 'how dare he call Merlin a lowly servant? Only I can call him that'

The bandit carried - no wait - dragged Merlin to the entrance of the cell then dropped - wait sorry - threw him onb the ground. The bandit stretched his back and muttered"I don't get paid enough for this."

The young warlock was on his back, moaning from the burning pain on his clavical.

The bandit kickd Merlin's right side and spat on him. Then the disgusting fellow moved his way over to the bound prince. "I guess a pretty boy like you isn't thag strong. Let me guess... you hide behinf your daddy's might."

Arthur clenched his teeth. Hard. First the man hurt Merlin, second he challenged the blond's strength. When the bandit got close enough, the prince rammed his head on the his head. This caused the man to cower in pain leaving his belt full of keys out in the open. The restrained male leaned back and stretched his right leg out toward freedom.

'Closer, Closer' Arthur urged. His toe was an inch no a centimeter away from liberation, but the key flew up and away from the confused male.

"You can't even follow out a simple order." Said a frustrated voice. It was the black haired sorcerer.

"Grant! I tried but this idiot of a pr-" the bandit was the flung to the cave wall and his body fell with a thud.

"And I told you NOT to hurt the injured one any further." Grant grinded his teeth.

Then he went to the prince and smirked, "since you attempted to escape from your bindings you will be sentenced to 25 lashes."

o.o.o.o.o

Merlin woke up from his unconscious state and saw that he was not in his cell like he remembered. He sat up quickly and looked around. Light grey walls, shelves full with old books, a messy broan table in the middle of the room. Merlin paused and wondered 'did Gaius redecorate?' Merlin got up and sat on the edge of the bed, then he remembered to wound he had and placed his hand on his shoulder and chest... nothing. Was it just a dream?

"You're awake." The unfamiliar voice interupted Merlin's thoughts. Merlin glanced over to the source of the voice, there stood a man with strong features: deep set eyes, strong jaw line, and a long narrow nose.

The man walked over to a green plant and looked at a leaf. "Just in time for this moment event...Arthur's first floggjng session."

Blood drained from Merlin's face 'It wasnt a dream' he thought. And without missing a beat l, Merlin said. "No! I'll take responsibility!"

Grant smirked. "Well dragonlord... I want to feed."

Merlin furrowed bjs brows and frowned in disgust and shock.

'How did he know I was... a dragonlord?"

"You have two choices: let Arthur get flogged and you'll be free of any punishment... or take Arthur's place and he will eventually be set free..."

Merlin stared at the black haired man as he walked closer to the manservant. Merlin then clenched his teeth... he knew sorceres are tricky, and he did not want to flagged or hurt - like any human - but he knew he could alwags use his magic to escape. "Let Arthur go."

Grant smirked and his eyes grew cold. "Perfect answer." He then covered Merlin's eyes with his left hand and his eyes glowed.

... a cry of pain was heard throughout the cave... Merlin's cry of pain.

**hope u guys liked it~~~ please review :)**

**oh and im SO SO SO SORRY! gosh... i really suck at updating now... but im going to try my very hardest!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there :)**

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Bandits

Chapter 3

The boy with black hair and pale skin collapsed onto the ground. When Merlin tried to push himself up, none of his limbs listened to him. He felt cold, and could not feel his toes and fingers.

The sorcerer had his head up at the celling, accepting the inflow of magical power, eyes glowing a powerful golden color. "Usually, sorcerers would still have enough energy to try to run away… but it looks like…you are made of magic. My dear Merlin, you are a magical creature." Grant smirked. "What a wonderful... source of magic you'd be."

Merlin did not the energy to even blink. His eyes followed the magician - he had longer hair now.

"You, outside the door, take this boy into the cell. Oh and make sure to leave that blond man alone." The sophisticated magician commanded reaching for a book on a stone table.

"Idiot sorcerer… can't even say funking please." The bandit in purple murmured. "Get up." He commanded Merlin.

Still unable to stand on his feet, Merlin just closed his eyes. He knew that man was going to kick him, verbally abuse him, and then have to carry him. It did happen, (but more verbal abuse than expected).

o.o.o.o.o

Arthur felt his arms go numb. He heard screaming, and it sounded painful, although it stopped for a while, he could not feel but worried. _Where was Merlin?_. The prince pulled on the metal restraints and grunted. He knew he had to free himself so he could grab his incompetent manservant and escape.

But as he pulled and pulled, he only felt the metal dig into his wrists.

"Don't forget who you are indebted to weakling, remember my name… it's Lio." Arthur heard. When he lifted his eyes, he saw a man in a purple shirt and in the bandit's hands was a trembling Merlin.

The man opened the door and dropped the manservant into the cell. "Funking fool making me carry him." Lio muttered, he then walked to Arthur and un-cuffed his hands and feet.

Arthur was about to knock Lio out, but he saw rope in his hands, it was connected to the loop around Merlin's neck. "That's right, girly, stay calm or else your little friend would have a broken neck."

Arthur bit his lower lip and furrowed his brows. _Damn bandit._

When the man in the purple shirt left, Arthur was left with a trembling warlock. "Merlin. Merlin are you okay?" He called. As he did, Arthur moved closer to the boy on the ground. _Was it Merlin's scream?_ He thought to himself.

"What yeah." The manservant sat up and smiled. It took him every ounce of energy to hold himself up. "I was just taking… a nap and er…" He hesitated.

"The last time I saw you, you were wounded pretty badly."

"Well…" Merlin looked around. "You're injured! Let me take care of that!" He took Arthur's left hand and began examining it. "It looks pretty deep. What did you do? Fight a rose bush?"

"Wait, Merlin… tell me what happened."

The dragonlord just ignored his prince's call and began ripping the bottom of his blue shirt (because his handkerchief was more important).

The two just sat there for the rest of the night, Arthur asking no more questions and Merlin trying to calm his shaking body.

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**I know... short right? Im sorry... seriously... I'm sorry... I just wanted to upload this chapter since you know... im on a short chapter writing binge. (Read my other MERLIN story)**

**So I guess this story is going to be short and simple... nothing extreme and hopefully i could finish this in less than 10 small chapters. (so I could start another story)**

**I hope you liked it and thank you for sticking with me! (and lol... no im not dead... yet)**


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